These are the chilling revelations which will send shock waves down the spine of parents.

Home and school should be the spaces where our children are safe but the shocking rise in online grooming through social media means virtually nowhere is safe.

Sexual predator Michael Lee, 20, of Gonville Place, Cambridge, lured his 11-year-old victim to a Cambridgeshire park where he sexually abused her a week after striking up a 'friendship' through Facebook highlighting the growing problem of online grooming in Cambridge.

This nightmare is unfortunately becoming an all to common occurrence with more than one cyber-related sex crime against under 18's recorded every week in Cambridgeshire between June 2016 and June 2017.

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Lee was sentenced to 16 months in a young offenders institute on Monday, February 12 at Cambridge Crown Court. He was also given a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders register, both for 10 years.

Michael Lee groomed a young girl on Facebook.

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Lee is a manipulative predator who subjected a vulnerable young girl to a terrifying ordeal and has rightly been jailed for his calculated crimes.

“This case shows that it is far too easy for predators to groom children online with devastating effects. We hope the brave victim is now receiving all the support she needs."

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The spokesperson added: “A new law that came into force last April saw 27 offences of sending a sexual communication to a child recorded in Cambridgeshire in just six months – but child protection online cannot just be up to the police.

“The NSPCC is calling on Government to act and force social media companies to use technology to flag up grooming behaviour to moderators and warn children before they are abused.”

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